Red Dead Redemption 2 Gives Players More Choice

By Anthony Taormina 19 May 2018

This week, Rockstar Games gave fans their closest look yet at Red Dead Redemption 2 in the form of an extended trailer. Not long after, press previews of the game arrived, detailing some of the new features included in the game, and some twists on established gameplay.

Based on the previews it sounds like Red Dead Redemption 2 is going to give players more options than ever. They will be able to choose when to do what and whether or not to ignore certain missions entirely.

As the previews explain, players will be greeted with missions (typically side missions) via casual conversation. One example given was a member of the Van der Linde gang telling Arthur Morgan that the food supply is running low. With that information, players can choose to go out and hunt for food (or perhaps even buy food) or they can let the supply continue to dwindle.

Apparently, these types of quests will present themselves throughout Red Dead Redemption 2 and it is up to the player to decide whether or not to act on them. It is unclear if there will be any type of time limit or way to track these quests, but presumably there will be. With press events like these, the developers tend to focus on the gameplay without getting too bogged down in menus. Hands-off demos like these tend to play out with minimal HUD elements as well.

Some that saw the demo even speculated that the choice could come into play with the story as well, with players able to decide how they will handle particular situations. Deciding who lives or who dies, for example, could help give some variety to the missions and make each playthrough unique.

Grand Theft Auto 5 played around with the idea of player-influenced missions and decisions but ultimately the game followed a similar path. Perhaps Rockstar is taking those ideas and running with them in Red Dead Redemption 2.

Whatever the case may be, the previews have given fans a better idea of what to expect from RDR 2 in October and presumably made them more aware of their decisions in the game.